Before the pandemic hit the planet, Hong Kong and the world have already been experiencing turbulence for a long time. There are challenges in almost every aspect of our lives, like global finance, public health, climate change, technology advancement, sustainable development, energy and environment, to name but a few. Proper legal and governance mechanisms are crucial to resolving complex issues in these areas.

To promote world-class research on interdisciplinary studies in social sciences and law disciplines related to public affairs, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and the School of Law (SLW) of CityU have jointly established the Centre for Public Affairs and Law (CPAL) in August 2020.

The Centre, co-directed by Dean of SLW Professor TAN Chenghan and Dean of CLASS Professor Richard M WALKER, brings experts in social sciences and law at the university together to build knowledge using evidence-based approaches, big data and devising policy and lawbased solutions to policy challenges. Prior to joining the Centre, these academics have already published research papers in a wide range of relevant topics, such as Hong Kong legal system, international law, socio-economic rights, human rights, social movements, international relations, social media, and more.

The Centre will feature labs focusing on contentious politics and public law, and policy innovation. The former will investigate the global wave of uncertainty and change associated with contentious politics, examine how the rule of law can be strengthened to provide guidance for the future governance, and produce research to inform institutional responses and law-based solutions to the challenges of contentious politics. The latter will study policy areas related to the University’s five strategic research themes (one health, digital society, smart city, matter and brain), examine the effectiveness of different policy tools and processes, and adopt a comparative focus and interdisciplinary methodology to produce research to inform the development of public policy.

Members of the Centre have received various grants to support their research projects, and big data, observational survey and interview data, lab and survey experimental data, research articles, and policy papers are to be delivered. The Centre will also invite experts to conduct academic conferences, fostering exchanges with academics in Hong Kong and beyond.